2Puggles's Profile

Please, don't buy your wine drinking friends yet another corkscrew. If they drink wine, they already have at least one working unit already. I have tons of them now stashed in a box, including an electric one, from friends and family over the years. My waiter's corkscrew just works best, doesn't take up excess space and I don't need an instruction manual to use it. Just buy a nice bottle (nice doesn't have to be expensive) and write on the label "Call me when ready to open" or other note to set a date to enjoy your friends company.

I bought a Kitchen Aid double oven about 4 years ago. After a year I ran the self clean on one of the ovens and it fried all of the electronics including the lights in the oven. It was $350 to get the repair man out from Kitchen Aid and then another $500 for him to rebuild the circuit board. I haven't tried it since and don't plan to. I also don't plan to purchase another Kitchen Aid appliance.

About 5 years ago I upgraded from a vintage Singer (which only did straight and zig zag stitches) to a mid level Baby Lock. As soon as I got my Baby Lock, I found myself doing more and more complex projects which I never could have done on my old machine. My best advice is to visit a sewing store in your area to see machines and try them out. Do not be tempted by the cheap machines at Walmart because they will not last and they aren't made to handle anything beyond light weight cotton fabrics. The larger JoAnn's stores and independent sewing shops in my area will let you use the display models for your own work. I think there's a small hourly fee, but by doing this you can really test out the machine before investing in them.

Also, Consumer Reports has rated sewing machines in the past and I recommend looking at their reviews if you're not already partial to a specific brand.

The ad on my page after the jump was for laundry detergent and for a second I gagged thinking that was the secret ingredient.

I'm sure there are PVC free ways to put ducks in there - maybe substitute some (seasonally appropriate) yellow marshmallow peeps?

Can anyone identify the crib in the 2nd picture? Thanks!

Sorbet! Add some sugar, and your favorite citrus juices and freeze.

Yes, you can use wine yeast for breadmaking. It's going to be more potent than baker's yeast, so plan on using less.

Blueberries.

It's also very easy to convert blinds to roman shades too. You can use them as your foundations and then fabric-tac cloth on top. Cheap shades can be bought for a lot less than the kits at craft stores.

My favorite drink is cucumber vodka with lemonade. It's deliciously refreshing in the summer. If you can't find cucumber vodka it's very easy to infuse your own.